Dairy farm familiesof the Southeast

Dairy Promotion News

February 2015

When it comes to cooking for lactose-intolerant guests, food bloggers now have a new arsenal of dairy-packed recipes to

choose from. More than 40 influential southeastern food bloggers were invited

to a cooking demonstration, hosted by Southeast United Dairy Industry Association and Dairy Management Inc., which high-lighted nine dairy-packed low-lactose recipes.

Caitlin MacEachen Steininger, of the popular website and You-Tube channel Cooking with Caitlin, demonstrated ways guests could incorporate dairy into a low-lactose diet. Caitlin and her team are known for developing recipes that cater to individuals who avoid the milk sugar lactose.

“We followed along with bloggers on social media using the hashtag #BeyondLI,” said SUDIA director of nutrition affairs Mary Martin Nordness. “During the two-hour event we had 154

#BeyondLI: Staff Educate Southeastern Food Bloggers on Low-Lactose Dairy Recipes

#BeyondLIContinued on Page 3

SUDIA Fuels Up on Funding

During November, SUDIA received 170 grant applications from schools around the Southeast interested in pro-

moting dairy and milk consumption by their students. The grants, which are distributed by SUDIA and Fuel Up to Play 60, aim to expand breakfast programs across the southeast and encourage the consumption of more milk and dairy in schools.

One of the largest grants was awarded to the Catoosa County School District in Georgia, which will be implement-ing Grab-and-Go! breakfast programs in 15 schools. In their application, Catoosa County School District wrote, “Our goal is to increase breakfast participation in the school. We want to make our meals look more appealing and appetizing. By promoting breakfast, we will also be promoting consumption of low fat milk.”

$480,000170 117grants awarded to schools in the southeast for break-

fast, healthy choice and snack smarter programs

distributed with the help of 15 different organizations,

including Quaker, Deans, and the Carolina Panthers.

applications submitted during the month of November

Above: Chef Caitlin MacEachen Steininger pre-pares food with help from her assistant, Annie, for guests.

Students at H. G. Hill Middle School in Nashville, Tennessee celebrate Titans Tuesday.

DAIRY Promotion NewsPower Your Potential: MilkPEP Revamps Communication Efforts

After more than 20 years of asking Americans if they “got milk?,” in

early 2014 the Milk Processor Educa-tion Program, also known as MilkPEP, launched the new “milk life” campaign, which aims to promote fluid milk consumption by highlighting milk’s nutritional benefits.

“Milk life” encourages consumers to drink more milk and pays special atten-tion to the 8 grams of protein found in each glass, with many of the advertise-ments featuring consumers of all ages having an active lifestyle powered by milk.

“Our strong positioning is focused on what milk does and why milk matters,” said MilkPEP marketing director Victor Zaborsky.

In addition to targeting those with an active lifestyle, MilkPEP has also focused on the largest growing segment of the U.S. population, Hispanic consumers. At nearly 17 percent of the population, or roughly 54 million

“Milk Life”Continued on Page 4

MilkPEP helps to encour-age children and parents

to live an active life fueled by milk.

Tony White (far right), a Tennessee dairy farmer, joins Tennessee Titans George Wilson, Jason McCourty and Coty Sensabaugh to present a grant for $10,000 to H.G. Hill Middle School in Nashville, Tennessee.

Students celebrate with Carolina Panthers Thomas Davis and Graham Gano after receiving a Hometown Grant. The $10,000 Hometown Grant will be shared between Leaphart Elementary School and Nursery Road Elemen-tary School, which are both located in Columbia, South Carolina.

Jerry Truelove (far left), a dairy farmer from Ga., and Sharon Rhodes with SUDIA present a $10,000 Hometown grant to Sprout Springs Elementary School in Hall County, Ga.

New Orleans Saint Curtis Lofton, along with SUDIA staffers Terry Charles, Stephanie Yow and Rebecca Turner, present a $10,000 grant to Louisi-ana Recovery School Districts.

On October 29, Dairy Management, Inc. announced new partnerships with seven different companies

to pursue growth opportunities for fluid milk and milk-based beverage sales. The new partners include Maryland & Virginia Milk Producers Cooperative Association, Inc., Southeast Milk, Inc., The Coca-Cola Company, Dairy Farmers of America, Darigold/Northwest Dairy Associa-tion, The Kroger Company, and Shamrock Farms.

“These dairy partners are making an unprecedented investment over the new few years – more than half a billion dollars in capital and other resources,” said Tom Gallagher, CEO of DMI.

Through investments in new processing facilities, nutritional research and marketing, the partners hope to unlock innovation and put milk back at the center of the health and wellness market.

“We know that growing the fluid milk business won’t be quick or easy, but we believe these seven partners put us on the right footing,” said Neil Hoff, Texas dairy farmer and United Dairy Industry Association Chair-man.

Each partner brings strong financial, tech-nological and marketing

capabilities to the table, complimenting DMI’s com-mitment to product development, consumer insights and nutritional counseling. These new partnerships are focused on increasing sales of fluid milk and putting back in the center of the rapidly growing health and wellness beverage market.

“With our check-off resources and dedication to fluid milk innovation, we are excited to see how unique part-nerships will help us drive ingenuity and generate new offerings and sales in the fluid milk category,” Gallagher said.

These seven partnerships will work to meet consumer needs through a variety of efforts including new products, new channels, enhanced distribution and merchandis-

ing. The checkoff is investing its resources to provide consumer, science, innova-tion and nutrition insights, while the seven partners are investing nearly 20 times that of checkoff into plant infra-structure, innovation and marketing.

“As a farmer, I am proud to see farmer-led organizations and other leaders commit-ted to revitalizing fluid milk,” said Paul Rovey, Arizona dairy farmer and chairman of DMI.

Seven New Partners Will Help Grow Fluid Milk Sales

Tweets and reached over 76,000 people.”

Dr. Jeanette Newton-Keith, a gastroenterologist from Alabama, also attended the event and spoke about lactose intolerance and how to make lifestyle adjustments while incorporating dairy into a well-balanced low-lactose diet. Also in attendance were Marie Spano, a registered dietitian often seen on CNN; Kathleen Zellman, nutrition director of WebMD; and Marissa Moore, a spokesperson for the Academy of Nutri-tion and Dietetics.

“In a digital age, bloggers have become more influ-ential and now serve a role in educating consumers,” Nordness said. “If influential bloggers are sharing mis-information, it can make a lasting negative impact. We

have to reach out to these bloggers, have them attend our events and share correct information about the dairy industry and encourage them to connect with dairy farm-ers online.”

Copies of the recipes, which included three appetizers, three entrées and three desserts, were provided to attend-ees. Following the event, many attendees posted recipes on their blogs and advised their followers to connect with SUDIA online for more information on lactose intoler-ance.

“We are learning that social media is even more pow-erful than purchasing advertising,” Nordness said. “If you can get the right mix of people that are social media savvy, you can really make an impact and reach a lot of individuals.”

#BeyondLIContinued from Page 1

Mike Saint John (far left), Minute Maid Business Unit at The Coca-Cola Company president, joins dairy farmers and industry leaders to toast the new fluid milk partnerships. Photo credit: Dairy Management, Inc.

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“Milk Life,” continued from Page 1

Americans, Hispanic consumers are a large segment of the population with huge gains to be made in fluid milk consumption, according to Zaborsky. Advertisements contain the tagline “Lo que nos hace fuerte,” which translates to “what makes us strong,” and often feature couples dancing and children playing.

While both campaigns are still in early stages, MilkPEP’s rebranding effort has already created a buzz among con-sumers and has seen success, according to Zaborsky. In addition to increasing fluid milk consumption, MilkPEP hopes to restore consumer confidence in the milk and dairy industries and encour-age consumers to “milk life” for all it is worth. Locally, SUDIA works with Milk-PEP to further the “milk life” message through social media and encourage pro-cessors to extend the promotion.

When you compare milk to compet-ing products, protein is what makes

milk distinct.”- Victor Zaborsky, marketing director

for MilkPEP